I live in a studio apartment, so needless to say, space is limited and precious. I have only one baby blue shelving unit and it must be meticulously organized at all times: the top shelf holds my 12 favorite cake stands, the next down is home to records of past pastry orders, cake portfolios and marketing materials, and the third shelf is the library. After 4 years at an Ivy League institution and 28 years of receiving books for holidays gifts from my very educated and well-read parents, you'd think my library might be an eclectic mix of heady non-fiction and classic literature. You would be wrong. There is not one book in my library that contains anything but recipes and photos... of food, of course.
I love spending time gazing at my cookbook collection which holds everything from the pamphlet the local egg-roll lady printed up to sell at the West Tisbury Farmer's Market to Pastry School text books. A recent addition to my library is the "Miette" cookbook which shares the secrets to making this delicious Bay Area pastry shop's specialties. Flipping through the scalloped pages of this gem of a book is a pleasure on its own. To actually pick something out and make it in my own kitchen -- fantastic! Then the question arises: How do you choose when everything looks so tempting? I started reading the notes about each cake and then immediately stopped my search when I read the following description of the Bittersweet Ganache Cake: The glaze of this cake is so glossy it rivals the sheen of patent leather.
OK. No further searching necessary. You had me at "patent leather."
